Prison authorities deliberately delayed taking political prisoner Arash Sadeghi to the hospital on July 22, 2017 and he was returned to prison without a doctor seeing him. He was due to undergo tests for a rare form of bone cancer. He has a doctor appointment at 7 am and the doctor was supposed to see his bone marrow scan and make a final diagnosis. But prison authorities delayed in taking him to hospital and authorized his transfere at 11 am, when the specialist had left the hospital.
A source close to the political prisoner with knowledge of the case said the authorities deliberately delaying in transfer Arash Sadeghi to hospital. Head of Rajaei Shahr Prison, Mostafa Ziayee has issued a directive banning depriving prisoners to be sent to hospitals even at their own expense.
Political prisoner Arash Sadeghi, 38, has been suffering from severe pain in his elbow and shoulders for 18 months. He had been kept for a long time in the dark by the authorities, and subsequently in June of this year he found out that he has developed a rare tumor in his arm.
Doctors advised that he has to be admitted to a Cancer Institute however the Iranian authorities are going against doctor’s orders and are deliberately denying him medical treatment.
Amnesty International has urged Iranian authorities to transfer the imprisoned human rights activist Arash Sadeghi to a cancer treatment center.
“Iranian human rights defender Arash Sadeghi has been diagnosed with a bone tumor that may be cancerous”, wrote Amnesty in a press release and criticized the Iranian authorities for “disregarding medical advice which recommends his immediate transfer to a facility specializing in cancer treatment.”
Arash has been on several long hunger strikes and taking a whole bunch of pills for severe kidney, stomach, intestine and heart problems.
Political prisoner Arash Sadeghi has been serving a 15-year sentence for his peaceful human rights activities since June 2016. His wife Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee had been sentenced to six years in prison on charges including “insulting Islamic sanctities.”
Initially Sadeghi and Iraee were tried by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in May and July 2015 by Judge Abolqasem Salavati.
Salavati’s verdict was upheld by Branch 54 of the Appeals Court in March 2016 for the charges of “collusion against national security,” “propaganda against the state,” “spreading lies in cyberspace” and “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic.”